Unrest in Steel Canyon Med

Dr. Nguyen looked over the short older woman in front of him, a puzzled frown on his face. "I'm sorry," he said gently, "no hablo español. Do you speak English?" Or Vietnamese, he thought wryly.

The woman shook her head, but as luck would have it, Dr. Sanchez passed by down the end of the hallway. "Dr. Sanchez!" he called out. "Claudia! Can I borrow you a sec?"

The female doctor smiled and changed direction, coming over and looking between Dr. Nguyen and the woman. "Hi, Scott," she said, still smiling. "Something wrong?"

He nodded and indicated the woman. "She seems very agitated about something, but, uh... I can't understand a word she's saying. Can you help me out?"

Dr. Sanchez nodded as well and proceeded to question the woman in Spanish. The conversation was lengthy, and while Dr. Nguyen tried to follow, he caught only a word or two here and there. He did notice, though, that Dr. Sanchez went from smiling to frowning deeper and deeper.

Finally she sighed and turned to Dr. Nguyen. "Her daughter is part of the custodial staff here," she started to explain. "She came home last night screaming and crying. Her hair had turned white from shock. Apparently, she was working near your labs when suddenly she felt an overwhelming feeling of fear and helplessness without any visible source. She tried to continue her work, getting closer to the lab as she cleaned the hallway. When she reached the door of your lab, she said four apparitions appeared, one of them towering over her. She ran screaming home. She refuses to return."

Dr. Sanchez sighed. "Mrs. Echevarria came here to ask that her daughter not be fired. That she be transferred to a different section of the hospital. Or maybe another hospital entirely. But she will not come back to a haunted laboratory. Do you know what this is about, Scott?"

Dr. Nguyen stared at Mrs. Echevarria for a long minute. "No," he finally said. "But I'd better find out. Get her daughter's name and I'll see what I can do. She won't have to work that hallway again, though."

As Dr. Sanchez explained to the older woman, Dr. Nguyen continued to watch. Now what? he thought.